From December 5 through 7, the Latin program put on their annual fundraiser, Salmagundi, in the South Alcove to raise money for the Latin program and Junior Classical League (JCL).

Salmagundi is a fundraiser for JCL, the junior classical league, the language honors society for Latin students. Salmagundi has been going on for the past 40 years and is a tradition that has helped to shape Mercy Latin students’ identity. During Salmagundi Latin students make baked goods, crafts, and other goodies to sell to their fellow Mercy students in an effort to raise money for the Latin program. 

Salmagundi is extremely important to the Latin program and JCL since it is the only fundraiser the Latin program has. 

“It gives us a good fundraiser for the JCL club, the junior classical league, which is the honors language society for Latin,” senior JCL officer Asher Harris said. “It just gives us money to work with for things like field trips, meetings, snacks.” 

The sale gives Latin students an opportunity to expand their Latin education outside of a traditional classroom with field trips Salmagundi’s profits pay for. 

“Salmagundi enables us to take field trips. To rent a school bus is really expensive and the school does not cover that or pay for our club to do that, so that (Salmagundi) enables us to go to the planetarium, to go to the University of Michigan, to do other educational trips during the school year,” Latin teacher and JCL moderator Lauren Marquard said. 

Salmagundi proves Latin students with an opportunity to display their creativity in a unique way to the rest of the Mercy community. 

“My favorite part of Salmagundi is selling to the Mercy students and staff. It’s really fun,” Harris said. 

Senior JCL officer Morgan Sarafa enjoys making chocolate covered Oreos with her mom for the table and choosing which stickers get to be sold during the fundraiser. 

The word Salmagundi also has a direct link to the fundraiser itself. 

“Salmagundi is actually a word in english, it’s a very technical word and it means like an assortment, a variety. The idea of Salmagundi is a sale that has a lot of different things you can look at.” Marquard said. 

Salmagundi is not an official Roman holiday but Saturnalia, a Roman holiday that mirrors Christmas, also happens during Salmagundi season. Latin students will participate in gift exchanges in class, similar to secret santa, to build a sense of community during the Saturnalia/Salmagundi season. 

This year Salmagundi went on for an extra day, instead of two days of selling the Latin program was given three– expanding their opportunity to share their creations with Mercy students. 

Salmagundi is not just an important part of the Latin community, but also the entire Mercy community. Salmagundi gives all Mercy students the chance to support their fellow students and get some tasty treats and cute crafts. Through their support they are giving Latin students the opportunity to learn more about the language they take outside of a classroom– a priceless reward.